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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Does Your Family Celebrate the First Day of School?

Each year, I make it a point to celebrate the first day of school with my kids. Sometimes we have an extra-special breakfast like french toast, or blueberry muffins, etc. Or we buy a fancy new set of clothes. But we always, ALWAYS take pictures of the first day of school, and I always give a small gift to each child.

The gifts are usually school-related in some way. Last year I gave them new book bags that came with fancy gadgets, like a solar-powered flashlight, compass, thermos, etc. Year before, it was simply a new book. This year, my children received their first lunch boxes. What do they need lunch boxes for if they are homeschooled? my husband asked. Well, first of all, just because they are homeschooled doesn't mean they don't like to do things that kids in a traditional school setting do. Some of the shows they occasionally watch on PBS (Arthur) sometimes show kids headed off to public school. They also see products on sale at the store in the school supply section.

And because we actually do picnic at our local park quite frequently, this is a great opportunity for them to use their lunch boxes. The look on their faces when they opened their gifts was priceless: pure joy. It is a great way to kick off the school year. The useful little presents help to excite them about their school days. Each morning before we start, they scurry to the kitchen to pack themselves a snack for our mid-morning break. The last two days those snacks were packed in the new lunch boxes.

Life is all about perspective, isn't it? Some days I really long for the days when something as simple as a lunch box would send me over the moon. Don't you?